The Donnie Jones era will officially begin at 7 p.m. tonight when the Knights host West Florida at UCF Arena.

Jones and his staff have been logging long hours since he was hired at UCF in late March. He has revamped the Knights' style of play, installing a fast-paced offense and a full-court pressure defense. Jones also has added more depth to the roster.

Like Rompza, Jones said he is very much looking forward to his first game as a Knight.

"You never want to lose your butterflies," Jones said. "I think that's a good thing because you're excited and I am excited. I'm excited to watch this team grow. ... I think with this group, they've worked hard. We've just got to transfer what we do here in the gym into the games. That's the transfer we haven't made yet."

Jones said the Knights learned a lot from a bumpy 78-70 exhibition win over Flagler last week at UCF Arena.

"I think we found out you don't just show up," Jones said. "You've got to come out and compete on every possession."

Since the win, which Rompza called an eye-opener for the players, Jones said the Knights have put in a good week of practice and improved defensively.

Jones wasn't ready to identify his starting lineup or exactly how deep he might go to his bench early this season.

Sophomore forward Keith Clanton, sophomore guard Marcus Jordan, senior center Tom Herzog, junior guard Isaac Sosa and Rompza all started the exhibition game and are expected to start against West Florida, but the playing rotation will be based on performance and how each Knight responds to new challenges.

"It's going to be a feel as we go thing," Jones said.

Jones said he hopes fans will eventually be able to identify the UCF team by his style of play, but the Knights are still adapting to his frenetic pace.

"It takes time," he said. "... We're learning, we're thinking right now. We don't know what a good shot or a bad shot. We're learning to play together a little faster. We're having to think so much. So I think once we can play with freedom and be able to share the ball and make the extra pass and execute and be able to speed things and be able to get steals and play an up tempo style, I think you'll know that's the kind of style we want to be able to play."

Rompza said the Knights are working on executing Jones' vision and the transformation should be fun for fans to watch.

When he was asked what fans should expect when they watch the Knights play, Rompza responded, "Energy. Craziness. Flying around. ... We want to push the ball, but also we want to play good defense. So we want it to be tough for opponents to score, but if we do get a steal or we do get a rebound, we want to push it right back on offense. I think that's something that's great for us."

Eastern Kentucky transfer Mike Lewis and Tulane transfer Terrance Beasley lead West Florida, which posted an 11-14 record last season. Head coach Bob Stinnett is beginning his second season leading the Argonauts.

"It will be a great challenge for our first game," Jones said, noting the Knights know little about West Florida because of major offseason turnover on the Argonauts roster.

UCF leads the all-time series 6-1. The Knights claimed a 102-61 win over West Florida during the last meeting on Dec. 17, 1993 in Orlando.

The Knights will open the season with a heavy workload. UCF will be playing three home games in six days, hosting West Florida tonight, Jackson State Monday and in-state rival USF Thursday.